There was double joy for mother and daughter graduates JulieAnne Rooney and Annabelle Coogans at the University of Stirling’s summer graduation ceremonies this week. Beautician and professional natural bodybuilder JulieAnne, 45, from Rutherglen, graduated with a BA Teaching Qualification for Further Education on Wednesday (June 24) while daughter Annabelle, 22, celebrated achieving a First Class BSc (Hons) Psychology a day later.
Family legacy at Stirling
Annabelle was the first in her family to study at Stirling, later joined by her mum — and then brother Christopher, who is following in her footsteps as a first-year psychology student. Annabelle admitted her reaction to studying alongside her mum came as a surprise to her peers. She said: “I think a lot of people expect me to be like, ‘oh no’ — but I was delighted and so proud of her. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been going to university with my mum. We’ve got our own identities and we’re doing our own thing. And then I also get to see her for lunch, which is really nice.”
From campus visit to graduation
JulieAnne added: “When I came up with Annabelle and saw the campus, straight away I knew that this is where I wanted to come. I worried at first that she might secretly think it was a bad idea, but she was genuinely encouraging — and that really gave me the confidence to go for it.” JulieAnne combined her studies with a gruelling fitness regime that has seen her become a European Champion bodybuilder.
Turning trolling into academic success
Daughter Annabelle even used hurtful comments from online trolls targeting her mum over her appearance as part of her undergraduate studies — earning a first for the assignment. She explained: “Instead of looking at it and getting upset, I thought, can I use this? There were a lot of comments to go through. It was awful. But I looked at other females that were doing similar things and it seemed to be a theme running across, so it was very powerful to turn that into something positive by studying it.”
Future plans
JulieAnne will return to Stirling in the new academic year to study an MSc Education, explaining: “I feel very strongly about social injustice, and I really want to narrow in on that and make real changes for people coming into education from disadvantaged backgrounds. I’ve raised my children largely on my own for the past 12 years, and I’ve always taught them that coming from a single-parent family doesn’t define you or limit what you can achieve.” Annabelle meanwhile will leave her mum and brother to start a Masters degree in Integrative Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow. She added: “My mum always inspired me to do as well as I could in education to open up opportunities. When I came to Stirling it felt right. I really liked my lecturers and I met some great people. Now I’m leaving, it’s a bit emotional.”
